According to the director of the upcoming film MBLAQ singer Lee Joon is not your average pop idol-turned actor.

Director Shin Yeon Shik generously praised the 25-year-old singer in an interview published Thursday on the website allkpop.

"The acting majors always say that an idol got in because they were idols, but I have no interest in idol actors," Shin said.

"For Lee Joon, I only saw his possibilities and enthusiasm as a rookie actor."

The director claims he saw Lee's drive to pursue acting immediately.

"When I met him for the first time, he had a real desire to act," Shin said.

"Among actors in their 20s, there was no one like Lee Joon who showed that much urgency to be an actor."

He recalled that it was Lee's appearances on the South Korean talk show "Strong Heart" that made him consider casting him in "An Actor Is An Actor."

"We weren't even thinking about him in the beginning, then we saw him on 'Strong Heart' with director Kim Ki Duk," Shin said.

"All of the film crew saw his talents, so we started talking about his participation. I think heaven has a hand in casting."

The director explained that the reason he has such high hopes for Lee is because the star is willing to put the time and effort into his acting.

"I think it's a bit pointless to measure who acts better or worse for actors in their 20s," he said.

"It's like determining who's the best student in elementary school. The most important thing is they way they treat their acting. Even though Joon was very busy filming for other shows, he worked very hard on the movie."